Brown’s music dropped from local airwaves

Local broadcasting company dms Broadcasting announced Wednesday that they would not be playing any of Chris Brown’s songs on their radio stations until his name is cleared of domestic abuse allegations.

Matthew Nadsady, program director at X107.1, a dms Broadcasting-owned radio station, said that the station would not play the singer’s music as a demonstration of the company’s lack of tolerance of domestic violence.

‘dms is totally against domestic violence and abuse of any nature. Being strong advocates of Cayman Crisis Centre, we believe at this time it is inappropriate to play Chris’ music until the pending charges are dealt with. We hope to be playing his music in the near future as he is an exceptional talent.’

Hurley’s Entertainment, which owns radio stations Z99 and Rooster 101, does not have any plans to discontinue airplay of Chris Brown’s music, said JB Webb, operations manager at the company.

‘We do not condone this behaviour but do not want to take away the pleasure those listeners get from listening to Chris Brown’s music,’ he explained.

Prosecutors said Tuesday they want more evidence from police before determining whether to press charges against Chris Brown, who’s accused in a domestic dispute that reportedly involves pop superstar Rihanna.

Police presented a case regarding Brown on Tuesday, but did not release any of its details, Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison said. She said the office would have no further comment on the case.

Brown was arrested Sunday night after surrendering to police, who sought the 19-year-old singer when a woman identified him as her attacker during a fight the night before. Numerous media outlets, citing sources and police officials who were not named, have identified the woman as 20-year-old Rihanna, Brown’s longtime girlfriend.

Though an initial police news release indicated that they were investigating a battery on a woman who was injured, Brown was booked only on suspicion of making a criminal threat, a felony. Police have said that prosecutors would determine what charges, if any, were warranted.

The district attorney’s kicking the case back to police could signal that prosecutors are seeking to build stronger charges against Brown; or it could mean the current evidence is too flimsy or has holes that would drop it to a misdemeanor or make it go away altogether, Loyola University law professor Stan Goldman said.

‘Sending it back certainly isn’t the death penalty,’ Goldman said.

‘If you’re Chris Brown,’ he added, ‘it’s both bad and good.’

A police spokeswoman said the department had no comment about the district attorney’s decision.

The department has said it was alerted to the incident in the upscale Hancock Park neighborhood by an emergency call, but has provided few official details beyond the initial report. Brown’s attorney and spokesman have not returned multiple calls and e-mails seeking comment since Sunday.

Brown remains free on $50,000 bail.

The allegations have at least momentarily tarnished Brown’s squeaky-clean image. At least one major sponsor, the chewing gum maker Wrigley, has suspended ad campaigns featuring the singer, who has scored with hits such as 2005’s Run It! and a Grammy-nominated duet with Jordin Sparks, No Air.

WAKS-FM, a Cleveland-area radio station has stopped playing Brown’s music until the allegations are resolved after outraged listeners called to criticise the singer. Stations in Pittsburgh and Indianapolis also reportedly pulled Brown’s music.

Brown has withdrawn from public appearances in Phoenix scheduled for this weekend before the NBA All-Star game. Rihanna on Tuesday postponed a planned concert in Malaysia.

Brown and Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, skipped planned performances at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, leaving fellow recording artists to try to make sense of the allegations.

Kanye West, who toured with Rihanna, said on Ryan Seacrest’s morning radio show Tuesday morning that the reports of abuse were ‘devastating.’

‘I feel like, just as a person, I don’t care how famous she is or even if she just worked at McDonald’s, that should never happen,’ West said on the show, which is broadcast on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles. ‘It should never come to that place.’